Sharing your sightings

Reports about other marine animals near shore, like seals, walruses, sharks, sunfish, tuna, and turtles, are welcome here too.

To familiarize yourself with some of the cetaceans that visit Newfoundland, here are some photos of whales that I’ve seen here:

Humpback whale:

Humpback whales – Seen from Brigus Head Path

Humpback whales are the most commonly seen whales in Newfoundland. They travel in groups and often venture very close to the cliffs in pursuit of their favourite meal: capelin. The two whales in the picture above were seen feeding for hours below the East Coast Trail near Brigus South. The bright objects being dragged alongside the whales are their long white pectoral fins.

Minke whale:

Minke whale – seen from Spurwink Island Path

Minke whales are quite common in Newfoundland too, but in contrast to their acrobatic friends the humpbacks, these smaller whales are elusive and solitary. If you’re lucky enough to see a minke whale from close up, you’ll note that it too has a bright spot on its pectoral fin, it’s just harder to spot because of its small size.

Finback whale:

Finback whale – seen from Father Troy’s Trail

Finbacks, also called fin whales, are the largest whale species you can expect to see in Newfoundland. They don’t come close to shore every year, but when they do they’re hard to miss, being substantially larger than humpbacks.

Blue whales are even bigger of course, but they’re so rare you shouldn’t get your hopes up for seeing one of them here.

White-beaked dolphin:

White-beaked dolphin – Witless Bay Ecological Reserve

White-beaked dolphins are fast and restless, they don’t hang around like whales do so get a good look when you see them. If you want to see them from the towering cliffs along the East Coast Trail, use your binoculars to scan the bay surface for their large dorsal fins and ceaseless splashing.

Atlantic white-sided dolphin:

Atlantic white-sided dolphin – seen near Summerford

Perhaps more social than larger whales, I’ve seen dolphins respond to my presence with curiosity. The dolphin in the above picture was one of a group of five animals corralling herring in a shallow cove near Summerford. I spent over an hour observing them, and every once in a while they came up to see if I was still there.

Killer whale:

Killer whales – seen in Logy Bay

Killer whales are ruthlessly efficient hunters, the summer of 2010 was the scene for several minke whale hunts that ended up on social media. Because all killer whales around Newfoundland are so-called transient or Bigg’s killer whales, an encounter with these whales is highly unpredictable and very special indeed.

Harbour porpoise:

Harbour porpoises – seen from Ship Cove Point

Harbour porpoises are the smallest whales around here, small and cute enough to cuddle and take home with you if you could. Because porpoises are tiny you’ll probably overlook them when you’re watching for whales. Your best chance of seeing them are from a whale watching tour boat, where you can ask your guide to keep an eye out for them.

there used to be a researcher working out of Delhousie(?sp) in Nova Scotia that studied the Leatherback Turtles. A photo of the back of the Turtle’s head works like a Humback tail, as a means to ID different Leatherbacks. Anyone getting photos of Leatherback Turtles should note date, time and location then try to find Mike James.

The whale watching season is coming to a close, with less and less reports coming in from tour boat operators, because they don’t go out as often anymore, and because whales are further out to sea at this time of year.

That doesn’t mean you can’t still see whales from the coast, in my experience you can see whales from the East Coast Trail all the way into October, and sometimes even after that. You just have to be lucky and know what to look for. If you see a whale in the upcoming fall months, please share your sighting here, I know I will! 🙂